Riley Teacher Seth Ponder Named to 40 Under 40

Riley's Seth Ponder has been named to Michiana's 40 Under 40! The Michiana Forty under 40 program shines the spotlight on 40 of the area's most talented and dedicated young executives, professionals and leaders who demonstrate career success and community engagement, before the age of 40.

Seth is an engineering educator at Riley High School and mentor at the Bowman Creek Educational Ecosystem.

Seth is also the co-creator of EdTech in the Bend, an annual conference for teachers and administrators. "Matt Modlin (eLearning coordinator at South Bend Schools) and I had a vision to create a conference by teachers, for teachers where attendees could learn how to integrate technology into every aspect of their classroom."

Seth says he is now inspired by the work he does with his team on the Bowman Creek Educational Ecosystem. "I am energized when I look at the team of people working on the Bowman Creek Educational Ecosystem. We have an amazingly diverse team of 52 people who passionately share a vision, solving real-world community challenges in the southeast neighborhood. The unique internship model gives students real problems to solve; projects started in the program have been launched in South Bend, our region, and even the nation."

Seth is driven by his students. "Each day I strive to inspire my students to become creators of educational content and not passive consumers. I encourage my students to utilize the technology they have at their disposal through the Riley Engineering magnet to develop new ways to communicate, collaborate, create and think critically."